Snow Scenes Photography Tips

Fresh fallen snow or falling snow presents a great photo opportunity for those who love to take pictures. The bright white snow adds a certain beauty to a winter scene and can make even a dull subject more interesting.

Taking pictures of winter scenes with snow is not difficult, but there are two very important things that need attention when you are taking the pictures. They are underexposure and the color tint of the snow. The following are some tips for photographing snow scenes and the adjustments that might need to be made.

Use Your Camera's Exposure Compensation Feature: Today's cameras have great exposure metering systems that will average out the light in most scenes so that the image will be properly exposed.

However, winter scenes that are dominated by bright white snow may cause the light metering system to cut back on the amount of light entering the camera. The end result will be an underexposed image with a grayish or blue colored tint in the snow.

If the snow in your pictures is showing as too dark, the following snow photography tip will help: Try using your camera's Exposure Compensation EV+/EV- function. The exposure compensation feature allows you to quickly adjust the amount of light entering the camera in small increments so that you can lighten or darken your pictures.

Typical exposure compensation settings that you may need to use will be +.3, +.7, +1.0 or higher which will allow more light to reach your camera's image sensor. That in turn will make your images lighter in proportion to the setting you choose. Use the opposite settings if your pictures are too bright. (-3., -.7, -1.0 etc.)

Since every snow scene is different as far as lighting, there is not a universal exposure compensation setting that fits every picture you take. If your snow scene picture is too dark, start out by using EV+1.0. Check the image on your camera's LCD screen and adjust up or down accordingly until you find the setting that works best for you.

When making your pictures of snow scenes lighter, be careful that you don't over do it. Large areas of bright white snow with no details or shadows can look like a big blank white space in your image.

Bluish Tone in Your Picture?...Change the White Balance: Another common problem with winter snow scenes is that the snow may tend to have a bluish tint, especially on cloudy/overcast days or in shade. This blue color cast can be corrected by using your camera's White Balance function.

Locate the white balance (WB or AWB) function in your camera's menu and then change the setting to Cloudy or Shade. This will create a warmer tone in your snow scene pictures and eliminate most if not all of the unwanted blue color tint.

Snow Photography Picture #3, taken with White Balance set to Daylight

Snow Photography Picture #4 taken with White Balance set to Shade

Snow Photography Image #5. Falling snow. Shutter speed 1/250 second.

​Snow scene picture #3 was taken with the white balance set to Daylight. Even though the picture was taken in the middle of the day, it was a heavily overcast day day and there is a bluish tint in the entire image. The white balance setting was changed to shade for picture #4 and the bluish tone was eliminated.

The bluish tone in picture #3 may be quite acceptable to many photographers and you might say it enhances the cool winter feeling. However, if the actual snow in your images shows toomuch blue, then it might be a good idea to change the white balance setting.

​Please read the White Balance tutorial for more on how to use your camera's White Balance feature.

Everyone has different tastes when it comes to the amount of off color tint that is acceptable or how light or dark an image should be. If you feel your camera doesn't always give you the exact look you like, you might try using a photo editing program to make minor adjustments to your images.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 15 or Corel Paintshop Pro X9 are good starting points when searching for photo editing software. They contain useful tools for fixing and enhancing your images even beyond correcting color casts or making images lighter and darker.

Falling Snow: Shutter Speeds and Aperture: When photographing falling snow you will need to use a fast shutter speed of at least 1/125 sec but 1/250 sec or faster will work better to freeze the motion of the snow.On the other hand, using a slower shutter speed such as 1/60 sec will cause the snowflakes to show as streaks or blurs.

Using longer lens focal lengths tends to compress the space in a scene and as a result, more snowflakes will be visible in your image. (In the foreground as well as further away)

A wide angle lens will include more of the overall scene in your image, but much heavier snowfall will be required to get the same effect.

Smaller lens aperture openings (F8 for example) will show more snowflakes in focus, but be aware that the correct exposure with a small aperture setting might require a slow shutter speed.

Another tip for taking pictures of falling snow is that the snow will show better in a scene where there is something darker in the background that will contrast against the snow.

Outdoor Conditions and the Look of Your Snow Scene Images: The outdoor conditions and the light that comes with them will affect the look or mood of your winter scene images. You can't change the weather but it is good to have a general idea of what your winter scene pictures will look like under certain weather conditions.

Pictures of snow scenes taken when it is very cloudy or while it is snowing will have a cool, low key tone. For instance, take a look at snow scene image #6. (click image to enlarge) It was taken while it was still snowing. (but you can't see much snow falling since it was taken with a relatively wide angle lens) If the trees and snow on the ground were the only thing in the scene, at first glance, you might think it was a black and white image.

Snow Scene Image #6. Cloudy conditions while snowing

Snow Scene Image #7. Taken under clearer skies

Now take a look at snow scene image #7. It was taken a day or so after a major snow fall. It looks brighter and warmer because of the mostly clear sunny conditions that it was taken under. Both of the images shown above are realistic snow scenes. There is nothing wrong with either picture. The main difference between them is the type of outdoor conditions that were present when they were taken.

Composing Winter Snow Scenes: Most of us don't live in a place where we can just walk out the front door and begin taking pictures of snow capped mountains. So we have to look around in our own local towns and cities for snow scene subjects that may be interesting to photograph.

Including objects such as trees, houses, or people in your photographs of snow scenes can make your pictures more interesting. A clear blue sky that contrasts against the white snow on the ground will also add more of a color element to the picture. For a few more tips on composing pictures, check the Photo Composition tutorial.

​Keep in mind that snow doesn't have to utterly dominate the entire image for the viewer to understand that they are looking at a winter scene. For instance, image #8 includes the ocean horizon and rocks that are not completely covered with snow. Yet you still get the cold winter effect. (the snow in the foreground helps too)

Winter Scene Image #8

Winter Scene Image #9

Every snow scene image doesn't have to be a landscape type shot. Image #9 was taken in the downtown area of a small town. It's anybody's guess why the restaurant owner still had tables and chairs outside in the middle of winter. No matter, it lends itself to a different type of snow photography shot. So, don't be afraid to be creative as far as the type of subjects you use for your snow photography.

Also, pictures taken of snow scenes an hour or so before sunset or within an hour after sunrise on a clear day will have a very different tone than those taken at mid day. The rising or setting sun will add a warm tone to your snow scene pictures and perhaps cast long shadows that can also make your images more interesting.

Keep your equipment protected: Try to avoid getting your camera or camera lens wet. Moisture that gets inside the camera can cause problems. Also, if you get moisture from snow on the lens, it may show in your images. Carry a dry absorbent piece of lint free cloth to wipe the moisture from the lens when needed.

Check with your local camera store to see what products they have that will protect your camera when it is snowing or raining.

Very cold temperatures will cause your batteries to drain faster. Make sure you bring extras and keep them in a pocket so that your body heat will keep then from draining too fast.

If you are a photographer who knows that you will be taking lots of outdoor pictures under not so ideal conditions,you might want to consider a rugged outdoor camera like the Fuji Finepix XP90 or the Canon Powershot D30

These cameras are designed for outdoor use and are waterproof, shock proof, and freeze proof. (to certain degrees of course, but they will perform under conditions which would cause other cameras to just stop working)

I​n closing, winter snow scenes photography is not difficult at all. Just be careful not to underexpose too many of your images and look out for color casts in you images.